Marks and Spencer had its AGM earlier this week where boss Steve Rowe spoke about M&S’s recovery but also highlighted problems in the clothing division, including selling out of a popular new jeans range in February:

“That led us having some of the worst availability in casual trousers I’ve seen in my life," he told shareholders.

Image source, Apple

Apple has disabled the Walkie-Talkie app on the Apple Watch, because of a flaw that let users eavesdrop on other people's iPhones.

The Walkie-Talkie app let two people who had accepted an invitation send and receive short audio messages.

But Apple said it had been "made aware" of a flaw that "could allow somebody to listen through another customer's iPhone without consent".

It has disabled the feature and apologised for the inconvenience.

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The head of M&S's clothing division, Jill McDonald, is leaving after just two years in the job, raising questions about the retailer's turnaround plan.

The firm said chief executive Steve Rowe would take over her responsibilities as the clothing division grapples with "long-standing issues" in its supply chain.

When Ms McDonald, formerly boss of McDonald's UK, joined M&S she called it "a career opportunity that I just couldn't turn down".

However, earlier on Thursday, Sky News quoted a former company executive as saying she had been forced to deal with the company's often-bureaucratic culture and complex supplier relationships.

M&S has been shutting stores and overhauling its management as it battles with falling sales and weak demand on the UK High Street.

Image source, Getty Images

US markets have opened higher thanks to strong performances from technology stocks and continued optimism about a likely interest rate cut in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89.96 points, or 0.33%, at the open to 26,950.16.

The S&P 500 opened higher by 6.55 points, or 0.22%, at 2,999.62.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 16.75 points, or 0.20%, to 8,219.28.

At a conference in London, the British government has pledged to support heroic reporters around the world. That may be canny foreign policy, but it won’t begin to save a struggling trade.

The FTSE 100 is still down slightly at 7,520.77 points, marking a fall of 9.92 points since the start of the day,

Online supermarket Ocado is doing worst, having fallen 6.5%, followed by British American Tobacco, down 1.9%, and miner Evraz, down 1.8%.

The best performer is Barratt Homes, which is up 4.3%.

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The pound has been edging higher on the currency markets, taking advantage of a weak dollar in the wake of US Fed chair Jerome Powell's signalling that he might cut interest rates soon. Sterling is up 0.49% against the greenback at $1.2565.

Against the euro, the pound has made more modest gains, rising 0.2% to €1.1138.

More comment on the Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report. City of London Corporation Policy Chair Catherine McGuinness said: “While we welcome the Bank of England’s assessment that the UK banking industry is resilient enough to withstand a disorderly Brexit, there is still much cause for concern.

"While the sector is prepared, the worst impacts can only be mitigated, not avoided, by preparation. In addition to industry action, there is a need for government to take steps to prevent cliff-edge damage.

“This should be a wake-up call for Westminster. We are now just over three months away from the next Brexit cliff-edge and the risk of no-deal is drawing dangerously close.

"As every day passes, the crippling uncertainty that is holding business hostage remains, leaving companies unable to make everyday decisions.

“The clock is ticking. Politicians on all sides must now come together to agree a pragmatic solution to Brexit and make avoiding a no-deal Brexit the absolute priority.”

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A US lawyer who uploaded pornography on to file-sharing sites then sued people who downloaded it, has been sentenced to five years in jail.

John Steele co-founded a firm called Prenda Law that set up and ran the porn-trolling scheme.

His Prenda partner Paul Hansmeier was jailed for 14 years in June for his role in the scam.

Steele faced a sentence of more than 10 years but this was reduced because he co-operated with prosecutors.

Read more here

US President Donald Trump is awake and tweeting, this time about about Deutsche Bank.

Now read on...

The FTSE 100 has tipped lower in afternoon trade, down at 7,522.88.

There was little movement at the top of the blue chip risers and fallers. Online grocery group Ocado's share price is down 4% at £11.66.

Shares in Barratt Developments are ahead 3.73% at 605.8p.

The FTSE 250 is still ahead but has trimmed gains to 0.18% at 19,454.35.

There is no reason for the EU changing the deal that has been offered, says Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

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France's finance minister Bruno Le Maire didn't mince his words ahead of the country's senate vote in favour of the Digital Services Tax following the US backlash against the move.

"Between allies, we can and should solve our disputes not by threats but through other ways," he said.

"France is a sovereign country, its decisions on tax matters are sovereign and will continue to be sovereign."

One of the biggest car dealerships in south west Scotland and Cumbria is facing closure with more than 200 jobs under threat.

Dumfries-based Border Cars said it was in talks with up to three potential buyers.

However, it is understood a number of staff have already received redundancy notices.

The family-run dealership was established 42 years ago in Dumfries and has two branches in the town.

You can read more on the story here.

Image source, Vans

The Evening Standard is reporting , externalthat Sir Philip Green's struggling retail empire Arcadia will lease out the space that Miss Selfridge once occupied on Oxford Street to US skate firm Vans.

Acardia, which also owns Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, recently secured a restructuring deal including shop closures and rent reductions.

Miss Selfridge has been moved to the basement of Topshop's flagship store in central London.

Image source, Getty Images

France's senate approved the Digital Services Tax on large technology companies, putting it on a collision course with the Trump administration.

It means tech companies will be taxed 3% on the sales they generate in France. Those firms generating more than €25m (£22.4m) in revenue in France and €750m worldwide will face the levy.

It will begin retroactively from the start of 2019.

Reckitt Benckiser (RB) has been one of the best performing shares in the FTSE 100 this morning, rising 2.4%, despite it paying $1.4bn to settle a US investigation into a former subsidiary's opioid treatment Suboxone.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “The cost to RB is significantly higher than the $400m the group had originally set aside, but the initial reaction from the market has been good.

"That’s a function of two factors. First, RB had already warned its original provision would likely need to be significantly increased, and secondly the settlement should remove the lingering uncertainty around the case and therefore give the new chief executive one less problem to worry about."